Ever since I beat Ocarina of Time I've been itching for a new adventure with Link. Once I heard about the new Zelda game coming out, about a year ago, I was so happy. Once they talked about it a little bit and showed the only three screenshots I was killing myself to wait for this new game. It's out and that's my life now. Who cares about sleeping, eating, and school or work when you got Majora's Mask.

New Stuff
There are quite a bit new features in Majora's Mask. Here is what I have so far.

This game is timed...but that what makes the game interesting and a stronger storyline. Each day lasts 24 minutes, and three days. That's 72 minutes of gameplay. With the power of your ocarina, you can play the Song of Time, save and return to the first day. So all it is is deja-vu over and over again. Unfortunately when you save you can only save certain things such as masks , and info. Things you can't save are usable items like arrows, bombs, and stuff like that. Also if you play the Song of Time backwards time is slowed down so you can have more than 2 hours of game time. If the Song of Time is played with each note twice than the game will jump ahead 12 hours, or minutes in our time. The game revolves around the game being timed and makes it the best aspect of the game.

This game is about being nice to people and help them do tasks. To do this there is the Bomber's Notebook. It automatically puts down information about what time the person is at a place, if they gave you a mask, if you had a very important conversation with them, or if you did them special favor. If you talk to certain people than you get a mask that could potentially help you in your journey. For instance at night I went to the Laundry Pool and talked to Guru-Guru. After he "released his anger" he gave me the Bremen Mask. If certain events are changed than possibly another event will be changed therefor something good will happen. To beat this game it's all about being nice to people and doing them favors.

24 or more masks to collect. Right now I have all 24. Each mask has a certain meaning or usage. Like the Great Fairy mask you can use to find stray fairies in temples. Or the Bremen mask that you march around playing an ocarina while animals follow you. There are special masks that change your form. There are 4 of them, Deku Scrub, Goron, Zora, Fierce Dietys (also known as Omni-Link, which changes you into an adult), which can only be used for the any of the 5 bosses. Funny things can happen if you wear different masks like one lady got offended by me wearing a certain mask. The game revolves around wearing different masks.

I just decided to add this for fun. Each form of link has different types of abilities as well as different forms of instruments. Like the Deku Scrub uses a bag pipe an instrument, I believe the Goron uses drums, and I know that the Zora uses a guitar. When I first played the instrument of the Deku Scrub I laughed because it was a wooden bag pipe.

Humor. This game has much more humor than Ocarina of Time. When I went to the Stock Pot Inn at night I went into the bathroom and out popped an arm telling me,"Paper, Paper!" He was immediately placed into my Bomber's Notebook. There are also very corny jokes. Here's one. "Did you here about the kidnapping in the swamp." "Oh my the kidnapping." "Yeah, then the kid woke up...I've got a million of them.

There are temples in this game, and not nearly as much as in Ocarina of Time. There are a total of four. After a boss is defeated you get a mask from him. The problem is since the game is timed the best thing to do is to play the Inverted Song of Time (slows down time) and do as much as you can in the temple. I had almost beat the Woodland Temple except I died when I got to the boss and only 50 seconds left. So I had to go back and do what I had done, skipping most of the things, and all was well.

I've noticed this to be quite cool. When Link jumps a long distance he does a little flip in the air and it looks really cool. Just something that needs recognition.

Epona is in the game. The whole beginning of the game is kind of revolved around getting Link's trusted horse back. Once that's that, the owner of the Happy Mask Shop wants Majora's Mask back.

Graphics
Same engine as Ocarina of Time, so it won't be much different. This time around it requires an expansion pack, so therefore the graphics are a little bit better. Since the expansion pack is used, Nintendo added in more movies. Which does add to the gameplay and mood.

Sound
There are new sounds, but no full speech. For instance if you go into the trading post and talk to the guy he makes a rather annoying "Hi" voice but it is funny. It's just those little sounds that make the difference.

There is quite a bit new music. There are a few scores from the Ocarina of Time that slipped their way back into Majora's Mask. Such as Lost Woods Theme. Some music has even been added to to make better or edited to a different version.

Gameplay
Same as Ocarina of Time. No new moves, except when in different forms. Gameplay is still as strong as the first N64 Zelda game.

One thing that must be said is that there is a fairy that guides you and his name is Tatl. Remember in Ocarina how annoying Navi was, Tatl isn't. The reason why Ocarina of Time was so easy because it gave hints where to go every 5 minutes and made you notice everything. Tatl is just a really crappy guide that hints a few things that might need noticing.

Well then...
Well I have to say that this game is somewhat better than Ocarina of Time so far. This game has a better storyline, graphics, has better new features, and sound. The story in this game revolves around Majora's Mask and the skull kid's havoc around the world of Termina. Like you must save a monkey for Woodfall, you must save the Gorons from winter in Snowhead, you must get Lulu her voice back for Great Bay, and you must save the dead for Stone Tower. All of those mishaps are supposedly caused by the skull kid. Ocarina of Time had a much stronger storyline because it has one storyline that keeps getting stronger and stronger. In the long run both of the game's storylines are the strongest ever in a N64 game. Also I recommend not to use a strategy guide for this because it WILL spoil the gameplay especially if you look ahead. Actually I recommend this on any game. For everything above this is a game that is definitely not to be missed.



Recommended: Yes